Butter-cutting machine



Nov. 25,1930. w, J. PEARCE '1,783,096

BUTTER CUTTING MACHINE L N 65M' Nav. 25, 1930. w. J. PEARCE 138.33196BUTTER CUTTING MACHINE Filed oct. 31,- 192e 2 sheets-sheet 2 55192 @l la 4. 4 Q

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Patented Nov. 25, 1930 t TES PATENT MFIFIIFCE t WILLIAM J. rnAncE.orllimitansron'r,` rENNsYLVANrA t I BUTTER-CUTTING MAcrirNE 'ApplicationlcrdrOctober 81, 1928. `SerialrNo. 316,278.

Such machines areemployed for cutting up masses of butter into smallermasses of predetermined size and weight, such as poundV prints, andusually comprisea molding Vhead 5 through" which the butter isforced,`aslby a screw conveyer, and from which the butter issues in theform of a continuous bar, which bar is thenslicedtransversely4 by acutting mechanism to producethe desiredlength of In the commercial useof `butter cutting machines a number of serious faults have appearedwhich have not hitherto been correctable.

` Among following. y

First,`themasses of butter fed to the cutting machine are not of uniformdensity .but contain numerous intern al full of air or water.

" The cuttingmachines now in use provide no means for eliminating thesepockets,A and therefore the prints produced, althoughthey varymaterially in weight.

Careful tests reveal that the prints `are a'l-l most invariably more orless underweight,

and in some factories it is the custom to add additional butter to theprints to compensate for this deciency. r f

Second, the butter asit moves in contact With the walls ofthe throat ofthe molding head tends` to adhere thereto with the result that the"surfaces of the issuing `bar are rough and torn, presenting anunattractive'V appearance, causing additional variations in weight, I'and also permitting unnecessary evaporation` of themoisture content ofthe butter with a consequent loss o-fweight.

40 Third, the throat of the moldinghead has hitherto been provided withrefining Walls in fixed relationto each other, and thus it has beenimpossible to accurately adjust the crossformity of weight in prints ofuniform length cut from the bar. y

Fourth, the issuing-bar is sometimes split1 these faults may be`mentioned the pockets or cavities may` be reasonably uniform indimensions,

sectional area of the throat to produce uniemployed-for that purpose.However, the i wires produce rough, torn surfaces, which areobjectionableboth because of their appearl ance and because they permitundue evaporation oftheV moisture from the butter; `and moreover thesmaller Abars thus produced are not sufficiently-separated to preventtheir t adhering together when they `are cut transversely into properprint lengths. l I

To overcome the first mentioned fault I `provide means for eliminatingthe pockets t and has imparted to it a smooth surface which' acts asaseal to prevent the escapetof moisture from the butter. I providemeansfor regulating the temperature sothat undue melting will not ensue. t t

The vspecific means which I provide for overcoming this vfault is anelectrical `heating mechanism surrounding the walls of the throat andpreferably containedwithin the hollow walls of the throat,'a rheostat orother suitable device being provided for properly regulating thetemperature. i

rIo overcome the third mentionedfault I provide the throatofthemoldinghead with a` movable` vvallsorv walls and with meansfor adjustingthepositions thereof, whereby the cross-,sectional `capacity of the`throatmay beV regulated, to produce a bar of the" proper crosssectionalshapeito produce the predetermined t weights in the prints cuttherefrom.

To remedy the fourth mentioned fault I provide means for splitting theissuing bar longitudinally which produces smooth cut surfacesxwhich alsoact as a seal against moisture loss, andI also providel meansforadjusting such splitting means to obtain accuracy and uniformity inthe smaller bars produced by such splitter.

Again my improved splitter is of such character that it spreads the barsapart and thus prevents the subsequent adherence.

@ther objects which I have in view, and other novelI features ofconstruction, and also of arrangement of parts, will appear from thefollowing description.

In the accompanying drawings, wherein I have illustrated a practicalembodiment of the principles of my invention, Fig. 1 is a longitudinaland vertical section of parts of a butter cutting machine to which myinvention is applied.

Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the molding head showing the splitter,the slicer being omitted from this view for the sake of clearness.

Fig. 3 is an elevation of the slicer looking from the right in Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is an elevation of the splitter looking in the same direction.

Fig. 5 is an enlarged section taken along the line 5 5 in Fig. 4.

Referring to the drawings, 1 represents a portion of the worm box of thebutter cutting machine, 2 the conveyer barrel which is usually of wood,and 3 the Worm conveyer which delivers the butter to and `forces itthrough the molding head 4 which is bolted on the front of the worm box.l

The head 4 is provided with the usual forwardly contracting mouth whichends in the throat which is shown as of the usual rectangular orcross-sectional shape. The throat forms the die of the machine in whichthe column is properly compacted and smoothed.

The throat is provided with inner walls 5 and outer walls 6 betweenwhich is the chamber 7 surrounding the throat.

In such chamber on the four sides of the throat I mount the electrica-lheating units 8 l' which are preferably solid bars of resistant metaland are connected with the rheostat 8 for current control so that theinner walls of the throat may be heated to the proper temperature.

Positioned at the mouth of the molding head 4 and at the end of thebarrel 2 is the slicing means or grid 9 which is of proper exteriorcontour to fit in said mouth and be secured in place as by the screws10. rllhe grid comprises a plurality of intersecting knives 11 which areof wedge cross-sectional.

opening up the pockets in the butter and permitting the escape of theirair or water contents.

The forcing together of these columns as the butter travels through thecontracting mouth of the head causes them to be compressed into a massof uniform density, free from pockets or cavities of any kind.

@ne or more sides of the throat of the mold ing box 4 is provided with afalse inner wall 12 which is carried on the inner ends of a plurality ofbolts 13 ext-ending outwardly through the walls 5 and 6 and through abridge 14 mounted on the outer wall 6. 15 represents nuts screwed onsaid bolts and held between the bridge 14 and the wall G, so that byturning said nuts the false wall may be moved toward or away from theaxis of the throat, thus permitting accurate adjustment of the capacityof the latter.

The inner wall of the mouth of the head is notched as at 16 so that theend false wall isprotected against direct impact of the forwardly movingmass of butter.

At the outer or discharge end of the throat or die of the molding head Imay mount my improved splitting device for dividing the issuing bar ofbutter longitudinally into a plurality of smaller or sub-bars.

Specifically the construction of the splitter is 'as follows. 17represents a rectangular frame which is detachably mounted, as by screws18, against the outer end of the throat.

The frame is formed of channel bar with the flanges turned inwardlytoward t-he center of the frame.

In this frame I mount one or more slicing knives.

I have shown two slicing knives 19 and 20, for slicing the main bar intofour smaller bars. In case the main bar is to be sliced into but twosmaller bars either the vertical knife 19 or the horizontal knife 2O maybe alone employed. v

The knives are wedge shape in cross section with the knife edge turnedinwardly to ward the throat of the molding head.

1 The vertical knife 19 has its ends inserted in the channel bars and isfixed in place as by means of screws 21 extending through one of theflanges of the frame into a threaded hole in the knife.

The body of the horizontal knife is of greater depth than bar 19 and isprovided with a triangular opening 22 at its center through which theknife 19 is slipped, as shown in Fig. 5, so that the bars may be assembled to provide a cruciform knife edge.

The ends of the knife 20 are slidably mounted in the channels of theside of the frame 17 and may be fixed at the desired elevation by meansof screws 23 extending through slots 24 in the flanges 'of theV channelsand engaging threaded holes in the knife 20. Y

Thus by loosening the screws 23 the knife mesme 20 may be moved up ordown and then be fixed in place by tightening the screws.

The purpose of making the knife 20 adjustable as to its elevation is toenable the cross-sectional areas of the smaller bars formed by splittingto be regulated so that their size may be accuratel uniform. s It alsoenables the knife to be adjusted to compensate for the variation inposition of the false wall in the throat, thereby insuring uniformity ofsize in the bars formed by splitting.

The issuing bar or bars move along the table and are cut into properlength to form the desired prints by means of the Cutting members 26 ofthe swinging cuttingframe 27.

The'wedge sha-pe of the splitting knives 19 and 2O cause the smallerbars to spread apart as they are produced, thus overcoming theirtendency to subsequently come into contact and stick together.

The true cutting action of my improved wedge shaped knives producessmooth sealing surfaces of the smaller bars, much superior to the tornrough surfaces caused by the cutting wires used on the present machines.

What I desire to claim is 1. The combination with a conveyer barrel andmeans for forcing butter therethrough,

y of a head on said barrel having a rectangular frusto-'pyramidalportion adjacent the head and a rectangular prismatic throat leadingtherefrom, said throat having one of its side Walls oset outwardly of aside edge of the minor base of the frusto-pyramidal portion to providealrecess, a false wall located normally in said recess, and means toadjust said false Wall bodily to and from the opposite throat wall. j l

2; The combination with a conveyer barrel and means Vfor forcing buttertherethrough, of a head on said barrel having a rectangularfrusto-pyramidal portion adjacent the head and a rectangular prismaticthroat leading therefrom, said throat having one of its side n wallsoffset outwardly of a side edge of the minor base of thefrustospyramidal portion toprovide a rec-ess, a false wall locatednormally in said recess, and a divider member having a frame providedwith inclined walls and fitting the said Vfrusto-pyramidal head portionat the end of the barrel whereby butter'issuing from the barrel is firstdivided longitudinally and is then pressed to force the divided portionstogether before passing into said throat.

Signed atPittsburgh, Pa., this 29th day of October, 1928.

p WILLIAM J. PEARCE.

